Friday, March 31, 2017

Today we are delighted to welcome Robyn Bavati to the blog. Robyn is the award-winning author of three novels for young adults - Dancing in the Dark, Pirouette, and Within These Walls, which has just been shortlisted for the 2017 CBCA Book award for younger readers. She loves visiting schools, libraries, book clubs and writers festivals to talk about her work or run writing workshops. Robyn is also an active member of Toastmasters International and enjoys public speaking.

What is the inspiration for your current book?

Within These Walls was inspired by true events, and in particular by the DVD testimony of a woman who was one of only 4 children to escape the Warsaw ghetto in a sideboard.

Is there a particular theme you are exploring in this book?

The book was written specifically to educate children about the Holocaust. It includes various Holocaust themes such as survival, and the different forms resistance takes, but it also explores themes of family and belonging.

Which period of history particularly interests you? Why?

I’ve always enjoyed reading historical fiction, and I don’t mind which period as long it’s a good story well told.

As for Within These Walls, I didn’t come up with the idea of writing about the Holocaust myself. I was actually commissioned to write about it by Scholastic Australia, who were looking for Jewish writers able to write for children. Unlike John Boyne’s Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, admittedly a fable, and written from the point of view of a German child, my brief was to write realistic fiction written from the point of view of a Jewish child.

As I am part of the Melbourne Jewish community, which is very much a Holocaust community, I felt a personal connection to the Holocaust even though my own ancestors had left for England long before WW2 began. (Almost all the children I went to school with were second generation survivors.)

What resources do you use to research your book?

I went to Yad Vashem (the most famous of all Holocaust museums) in Israel, as well as visiting the Holocaust centre here in Melbourne, where helpful staff allowed me access to the DVD testimonies that were part of the Speilberg project. I also interviewed several survivors. In addition, I read a number of books, memoirs as well as academic texts, and watched several Holocaust movies, including some set in Warsaw and the Warsaw Ghetto.

What is more important to you: historical authenticity or accuracy?

Both. Accuracy is extremely important when it comes to the depiction of actual historical events, though cannot apply to made-up characters. Authenticity is what counts when it comes to characters – everything they do, say, and feel must be believable. Extensive research is required not only for the description of major historical places, figures and events, but also to accurately capture the minutiae of the characters’ lives.

Which character in your current book is your favourite? Why?

The protagonist, Miri is my favourite character. She’s selfless and brave – a real hero. And she never gives up.

Are you a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’? How long does it generally take you to write a book?

I’m neither one nor the other. I don’t have a detailed plot worked out before I begin, but I do need a strong sense of direction.I won’t start until I have at least a couple of major plot points in mind and an idea of the ending, but I don’t have details. Writing is exploratory. If I knew the story in detail before I started, I’d have no reason to write it.

How long does it take me to write a book? Depends on the book. This one began with three months of research (which continued throughout the writing process) followed by 10 months to reach the end of the 1st draft. Then there were a few rounds of edits over the next 6 months or so.

Which authors have influenced you?

The books I found most helpful in writing Within These Walls were The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman and Israel Gutman’s books Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and The Jews of Warsaw.

I don’t think I’ve been influenced by anyone in particular as regards my writing style.

What advice would you give an aspiring author?

Don’t plunge straight into writing a book as soon as you get a good idea. Sit with it for a couple of months to see if it’s still begging to be written. Writing a book is a lengthy process, and you need to be wholly invested in the work to last the distance. However, once you’ve decided to go ahead, be persistent.

Tell us about your next book or work in progress.

I’m currently working on another novel for young adults, but it’s too soon for me to tell you more about it…

WHATEVER IS COMING, WE'LL FACE IT TOGETHER, AS A FAMILY. AS LONG AS WE'RE TOGETHER, WE'LL BE OKAY.

For Miri and her family, life in Warsaw is full of simple joys. The smell of freshly baked challah, the promise of summer holidays, and Fridays when everyone comes together to celebrate the Sabbath. But when the Germans march into Warsaw with their campaign of hatred against the Jews, Miri and her family must move to the ghetto. One by one her family are taken from her, and Miri finds herself alone.

Based on true events, 'Within These Walls' gives a realistic account of what it was like to be a Jewish child in Warsaw during the Holocaust.

Thank you for sharing your story with us, Robyn. Robyn will be taking part in a panel discussion about 'Children's and Young Adult Historical Fiction' with Goldie Alexander. Elizabeth Jane Corbett and Pamela Rushby at our HNSA Meet the Author satellite event in Melbourne on 9 April 2017 at the Mail Exchange Hotel, Melbourne. More details can be found on our satellite events calendarwhere you will find a link to buy your tickets.

Monday, March 27, 2017

Today we’re delighted to welcome Kate Mildenhall to the HNSA blog. Kate is the author of Skylarking, published by Black Inc. in 2016. She is a writer and teacher. She has taught in schools, at RMIT University and State Library Victoria, and has volunteered with Teachers Across Borders delivering professional development to Khmer teachers in Cambodia. Skylarking is her debut novel, and is based on the true story of Kate and Harriet, best friends growing up on a remote Australian cape in the 1880s, and the tragic event that befalls them.

Skylarking was named in Readings bookstore’s Top Ten Fiction Books of 2016 and longlisted for Debut Fiction in The Indie Book Awards 2017. Kate lives in Hurstbridge, Victoria, and is currently working on a new novel.

What is the inspiration for your current book?

Skylarking is inspired by a grave I stumbled upon during a camping trip. The grave belonged to Harriet Parker, a young woman growing up at a remote lighthouse on the Australian coast in the 1880s. Skylarking reimagines the lives of Harriet, and her best friend Kate, and the tragedy that befalls them.

Is there a particular theme you are exploring in this book?

When I first learned more of this story, I was struck by the fact that although our lives were over 100 years apart, and incredibly different, the nature of friendship, of growing up, of dealing with desire and envy – these elements of a young woman’s life were timeless. I might have been Kate or Harriet. So I’ve tried to tease that out – the nature of friendship, of women’s lives that have so often been left out of the historical record.

Which period of history particularly interests you? Why?

The story of Skylarking really found me, and as such, I became immersed in the period of late 19th century Australia. I loved the research – I could have gone on forever. While my focus was always on the intimate lives of Kate and Harriet, and their life in the light station, I also felt a responsibility to acknowledge the colonisation and dispossession of Aboriginal lands and people at this time, which is ongoing.

What resources do you use to research your book?

I had my first big breakthrough using the NLA’s magnificent website TROVE, where I discovered the original newspaper reports of the incident that occurred near the Cape St George lighthouse. These articles gave me plot, and character voice, and spine-tinglingly – my title. I read spidery handwriting in diaries of young Victorian women, climbed lighthouses and read manuals and logbooks of light keepers. The staff and fabulous resources of State Library Victoria were enormously helpful. I also read the books that I imagined my protagonist might have read. Also a lot of late night googling of recipes, photographs, school curriculum, how to get on a horse…

What is more important to you: historical authenticity or accuracy?

Well, in the case of Skylarking, it was authenticity. Although, I did angst over this for much of the writing process! Historical accuracy would have involved me telling the history of an extraordinary lighthouse and all the strange occurrences then, and the many additional characters who were around, and I was really so obsessed with Kate and Harriet’s story that I had no room for the epic that it otherwise might have become! At some point, the true story of Kate and Harriet disentangled itself from history, and became a story I was telling, a fiction. I knew, when I finished the book, that this is the way it happened for my Kate and Harriet.

Which character in your current book is your favourite? Why?

Oh, Kate. I was inside her head for so long, and she really became part of me. Of course, we all leave little bits of ourselves in our characters (it didn’t help that I shared a name with my protagonist!), and I share some of Kate’s flaws and dreams. I did have a bit of a crush on the fisherman McPhail for a time, too – is that normal?! I also grieved deeply for what I had to write in the novel, and for how it impacted Kate –but I can’t say anymore than that without a big spoiler!

Are you a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’? How long does it generally take you to write a book?

In my vast experience of having written one book, I can definitely say pantser! There was a real urgency I felt in getting Skylarking down, and it helped that I had a skeleton plot, and characters from the true events. I’m now writing my second novel, a different beast altogether, and I feel like it’s an entirely new process. This time, I’m trying to be a bit more of a plotter – although I’m not sure how it will work!

Which authors have influenced you?

In this particular work; Maragret Attwood, Geraldine Brooks, Hannah Kent, Kelly Gardiner – I pored over these novelist’s books and authors’ notes to see how they had approached the difficult ground of writing historical biofiction. In general – Tim Winton, Joan London, Cate Kennedy.

What advice would you give an aspiring author?

Get the words on the page. Read a lot, and widely. Find a network of other writers – to buoy you up, share writing and advice, and commiserate with.

Tell us about your next book or work in progress.

My new novel tells the story of a mother forced from her home and looking for a safe place for herself and her kids. It’s a contemporary novel and it’s my way of exploring some of the ideas and political issues that have confronted me over the past few years.

Kate and Harriet are best friends, growing up together on an isolated Australian cape in the 1880s. As daughters of the lighthouse keepers, the two girls share everything until a fisherman, McPhail, arrives in their small community. When Kate witnesses the desire that flares between him and Harriet, she is torn by her feelings of envy and longing. But one moment in McPhail's hut will change the course of their lives together.Inspired by a trued story, Skylarking is a stunning debut novel about friendship, love and loss, one that questions what it is to remember and how tempting it can be to forget.

Thanks for sharing your journey with us Kate. All the best for your next book!

HNSA 2017 Conference

The HNSA 2017 Conference in Melbourne is being held on 8-10 September 2017. Kate Mildenhall will be appearing at the following panel Session Two on Sunday 10 September at 10.00-11.00 am.

The Modern Voice in Historical Fiction

Writing styles have altered over the years. Should an historical novelist cater for the tastes of 21st Century readers by introducing modern expressions and dialogue in their novels? Is it valid to introduce current sensibilities to characters who would otherwise have been constrained by their own societies? Authors Kate Mildenhall, Melissa Ashley, Greg Pyers and Luke Devenish discuss with Eleanor Limprecht how historical novels have changed over time, and how they approach writing authentic characters true to their period.

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